


Meta: I Have No Power Before You

by KuriKoer



Series: The Castle Beyond the Goblin City [2]
Category: C6D - Fandom, Canadian 6 Degrees, Labyrinth (1986), Meta - Fandom, Tin Man (2007)
Genre: M/M, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-24
Updated: 2012-08-24
Packaged: 2017-11-12 19:39:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/494932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuriKoer/pseuds/KuriKoer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meta written for the fic Your Eyes Can Be So Cruel, thanks to Hazelwho</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meta: I Have No Power Before You

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Your Eyes Can Be So Cruel](https://archiveofourown.org/works/494929) by [KuriKoer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuriKoer/pseuds/KuriKoer). 



Zero was a powerful man in the OZ, feared if not respected, but he also clearly understood and accepted hierarchy - even when the general above him was incompetent, even when the witch in charge was batshit crazy. He was well aware of that, in the way soldiers often mock politicians, but he was comfortable in his place, and respected the ranks and the monarchy - he wasn't one to stage a coup. He obeyed orders, stupid though they may be. Ordinary soldiers don't really care about succession wars, especially if the older sibling ends up on the throne, as theoretically she should be. And if she ends up being possessed, well, our world had worse.

Now, I keep thinking of him in situations where he gets a worthy leader. A king or queen he can get behind (yes, I think of many crossovers, from Darth Willow to Loki). As a side meta, a meta-meta if you will, I'm personally also wanting him in crossovers because he's a good character stuck in a not-very-good 'verse. Bless, what I remember of Tin Man was mostly headdesky. So he deserves better, and what's fanfic if it isn't one long "he deserves better"?

One of the main points of the Labyrinth is "you have no power over me". It's the story of a young woman finding her independence, refusing the patriarchy, choosing the adult path wherein she is not overtaken by the hot guy with the questionable rhetoric. But Zero _is_ questionable. And he has his power only to harness it in the service of another power, a greater power, or a better suited power, or a "god given" power or any kind of... Can you imagine Zero as head of state? Because, no. He's not even the commanding officer who stays behind in the comfortable office, he's the guy who goes out into the mud with the rest of the soldiers and gets in the bloody beatings himself. Not the guy looking for a throne, but also not the guy looking for the kind of personal development that would push him to stand up and say No to an authority figure.

Now Jareth, and that's his charm, is power. He can change time, he can turn the world upside down, he can move the stars. He's totally worth it, if you're into servitude but looking for a better king. He's literally entirely in control over the world around him.

And then there's the fact he's an attractive fellow.

Do you know something interesting? There's hardly any sex mentioned in Tin Man, but what's mentioned is Zero. We know he was married at least twice, we know he has a "weekly" thing with a woman, and that this is a known fact to people who really have no business knowing that kind of a thing. He _has sex_. Pretty sure he's the only one in the OZ who does.

The queen he was serving before. Queen Cleavage, bless. You can bet money he stared down those, uhm, tattoos, but something tells me he wouldn't touch them. There's a lot of fic 'shipping those two, and I can see that, but it's always an uncomfortable thing. The guy has a pretty okay sense of survival, more than enough to know not to touch the crazy possessed chick. I'm trying not to sound sexist, but really, _feral flying monkeys_.

So, plot happens, and as it happens in popular media, the witch girl gets pardoned and the loyal soldiers get screwed. Zero gets many creepy "how it ends" fics, despite the fact the iron suit was not his idea, that Cain sentenced people to that suit before Az ever got on the throne, that he wasn't particularly creepy as far as regime changes go, etc. Let us put aside our complaints for that and return to the fic in question. Plot happens, and Zero, as punishment, gets cast to another realm, a pocket-realm if you will, or really, a bubble. In this realm nothing makes sense, not even left and right, nothing is constant except this guy. This one guy - oh hey, have you read the amazing essay about the Labyrinth as an allegory for puberty and adulthood? Never mind now - Jareth. He's power, he's charm, he's magic, and he's hot. There is no bad here. Now, someone else might want to get away from that kind of influence, and someone else might want to pick an alpha fight. But Zero, he's very comfortable being beta. He's very comfortable with monarchy. And he's very comfortable with a lifestyle that involves no danger of someone cutting off his fingers or sticking him in a claustrophobic metal suit or sucking the life force out of him or siccing fucking flying monkeys on his ass. And clearly he's very comfortable with the sex, but not just in a "yay getting laid" way, but in a deeper way. The sex is a constant, but it also gives him a purpose. He's not just there to kick muppets around, he's there to... what's the phrase? "Serve at the pleasure of" his king.

 

(this was meant to be a lot more about bdsm and a lot less about royalist politics)

 

tl;dr: "you have no power over me" is a really important line in the original text, and this subversion can be read as the ultimate sub fantasy


End file.
